Celebration of women’s basketball continues with record-breaking crowds

LILLE (France) – The soaring popularity of female hoops globally was evidenced in Lille with an incredible number of fans choosing to watch the group phase of the Women’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024.

In what has undoubtedly been another celebration of women’s basketball, the record-breaking crowds have extended the trend which was also witnessed at the spectacularly successful FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney.

The attendances at the Stade Pierre Mauroy have been phenomenal and have eclipsed anything that has went before in Europe. The record for a women’s game now stands at 27,193 and was achieved during the very last game in Lille between host nation France and Australia.

Even the 22,813 average attendance of all 18 women’s games played at the Women’s Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024 is more than the previous highest record attendance seen on European soil.

That was at the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 1952 in Moscow when just over 20,000 fans packed into the Dynamo Stadium. There was also a similar crowd for the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 1960 Final in Sofia.

Record crowds for women’s games in Europe

It hasn’t only been the size of the crowds that have captured the imagination, but also the party atmosphere too – right across the competition.

A prime example being of course the French fans who have supported their local favorites and also the masses of Belgium fans who have brought the noise in support of their beloved Cats.

Belgium have played in front of so many of their supporters, it has felt like they have been the home team. This follows on from the record-breaking FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 when a sold-out 13,700 fans in Antwerp set the attendance record of Belgium’s women’s team sports.

Meanwhile the fans who have already fallen in love with the women’s game and all those newcomers who are in the process of doing so, are contributing to Paris 2024 chasing the all-time Olympic basketball tournaments attendance records from 1996 in Atlanta.

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Paris 2024 is chasing the All-time olympic basketball tournaments attendance record